Lost in Time
by ItestedGarrus'Reach
Summary: After the Collectors are defeated the Illusive Man has one more mission for Shepard. They travel to Earth to retrieve a Prothean artifact only to encounter a betrayal by Cerberus that leaves them stuck in the 21st century.Rated M for L & Sexual content
1. Chapter 1

"Lost in Time"

A/N: I'm going on a writing frenzy but in my rush to get things going I might overlook some spelling and structural problems. Bear with me. I know where I want to go with this but I'm not so sure I'll be able to get it right. As I mention in previous fics, I'm not really a writer. Please review and be kind. Constructive criticism is welcome.

Disclaimer: Mass Effect and characters belong to Bioware. I just like to make them do stuff. XD

Chapter 1

Shepard's boots felt heavy as she ran across the hall, Miranda and Jacob following behind. The alarms had been set off and the flashing red lights were making it difficult to concentrate. She took cover against the wall as she heard footsteps getting closer and closer. She grasped her pistol and turned the corner aiming at the soldiers running towards her. She emptied the clip and the hall once again was secure. Shepard motioned for Jacob to take point and make sure the rest of the way was clear. They reached a door at the end of the hall, a vaulted, metallic grey door that seemed impenetrable. Jacob reached for his omni-tool and scanned the door.

"It's on a time delay system. I might be able to override it and get us inside. Give me a couple of minutes." Jacob turned his back towards the two women and started punching numbers. Miranda and Shepard turned towards the hall. If anyone decided to attack them now there would be nowhere to take cover.

"Hurry up Jacob! I can hear footsteps getting closer!"Miranda crouched placing a knee on the ground as Shepard reloaded her pistol. As a group of soldiers turned the corner the vault door hissed open.

"Got it!" Jacob pulled the door open and all three stormed inside. Shutting the door behind them Shepard let out a relieved sigh and leaned against the door. The vaulted door was thick enough to prevent any bullets from getting through. For now they were safe.

"Well, we're here. Now what?" Shepard turned to look at Miranda who was punching information into her omni-tool. She walked around the room in search for a way out. Shepard looked around and saw that the room they were in was relatively small and completely empty. The walls were clearly made out of the same material as the door and there seemed to be only one way in and out of the room. The door which they had just locked and was keeping the soldiers away.

"So… How exactly do we get out of here? Are we even in the correct room?" Jacob turned to Miranda who was dragging her hands across the back wall.

"Yes. We are. According to my scans there's a panel here that will give us access to our target. This is only a decoy room. It's intended to give the impression of a dead end. Ah! Got it!" Miranda stepped back as a panel on the back wall opened and revealed a keypad. She ran her omni-tool on top of it and the keys flashed from red to green. The team stepped back as the wall started to open upwards revealing a downwards staircase. Cautiously the team stepped in and headed down the stairs.

The room was dimly light and the air around them was dry. Miranda made her way towards the center of the room and stopped in front of a pedestal with a glowing object sitting on it.

"This is it! The last key!" Miranda reached out and grabbed it. She turned towards Shepard and nodded. "Let's get out of here!"

1-1-1-1-1

Jacob sat silently in the back seat as he applied medi-gel on his shoulder. They had encountered more resistance as they made their way out of the building. Shepard was sitting in the co-pilot seat as Miranda drove to their destination.

"I really hope this is the last time I have to deal with Cerberus." Shepard was rubbing her temples. It had been a few months since her battle with the Collectors. "I thought it was enough for the Illusive Man that I let him have the reaper. Now he has me jumping across the timeline for some stupid mythical key." Miranda turned her gaze towards Shepard.

"We really appreciate you doing this Shepard. With this key we can finally get the locations to the arcs. When the Reapers attack, when they make the mistake of taking us on, we will be ready and we will be victorious."

10101010

Miranda led Shepard and Jacob through the security doors of the Cerberus facility. Cerberus had been well prepared for this mission and had built a facility specifically designed to safekeep and transport the object they had just obtained.

"The Illusive Man wants to speak with you Shepard." Miranda led Shepard towards the facilities comm room. As Shepard walked in the holo of the Illusive Man appeared in front of her.

"Well done Shepard. I knew I could count on you for this mission. You have done humanity the ultimate favor. When we obtain the arcs and are able to activate them the Reapers will not stand a chance. You have just given humanity dominance over the universe." Shepard tensed as she heard the Illusive Man go on about the power they had just obtained.

"I didn't do this to secure humanities dominance! I did it to stop the Reapers! I already let you keep the collector base and I'll be damned if I'm handing over this key to you! This key is remaining in my possession and I will see to it that it is destroyed once the Reapers are eliminated!" Shepard turned towards the door to leave but was stopped by Miranda, her hands crossed at her chest and two Cerberus armed agents behind her.

"Shepard, you should've just let it go. I'm sorry about this." With those last words the Cerberus agent behind Miranda raised his rifle and slammed the butt against Shepard's face.

"You treacherous bitch…" Darkness consumed her as she felt her body hit the floor.

1-1-1-1-1-1

Shepard was lying in her bed. Now that the Collectors had been defeated she could finally relax. At least until the Reapers showed up. She shifted her body towards the center of the bed and placed her arm around the man next to her. His body against her made her feel ever so warm.

"I'm so glad we can finally be together…" She trailed her delicate fingers across his chest. "And now that the crew knows about us we don't have to be sneaking around either." Her companion wrapped his arms around her and within a couple of minutes they were fast asleep.

Shepard was still asleep when EDI's voice came through the speakers.

"Commander, the Illusive Man wishes to speak with you. ….. Commander?"

"She's still asleep EDI. Is it important?"

"Oh I'm sorry Officer Vakarian. I did not know you were here. The Illusive Man wishes to speak to Commander Shepard immediately.

"I'm not going to wake Shepard up just yet. Besides, we're not working with Cerberus anymore. If it's so important he can wait."

"Understood Officer Vakarian."

Garrus was heading down the stairs from the restroom when he heard Shepard sit up on the bed. He smiled as he gazed upon her naked body. Her shiny, black hair unshelved and in her face. Her deep blue eyes looked up at him and she smiled.

"Morning handsome." She stretched out her arms and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. It had truly been a long time since she had gotten a good night's sleep. As Garrus walked towards her she reached for a bottle of medication on her night stand. She took a pill in her hand and popped it in her mouth.

"Why another one Shepard?" Garrus sat down next to her and stretched his arms and legs in front of him. Shepard gave him a dirty look as he settled back down on the bed. She placed the bottle back in the night stand and jumped on top of Garrus. She leaned in close to his face and batted her eyelashes at him.

"Why waste a perfectly good morning just lying here when we could be doing so much more?" She pressed her lips against his and started caressing the plates on his chest.

"You're such a wild beast! I love it!" Garrus turned his head letting Shepard's lips slide towards his neck.

He caressed Shepard's arms and shoulders ever so softly as she nibbled and sucked his neck. Garrus slid his hands towards Shepard's bare chest, cupping a breast in each hand. He did not know what the purpose of breasts was but he liked how they felt between his hands. They were so soft and they bounced as she moved. Garrus could feel the plates on his groin shift as the sensation of Shepard's lips on his skin aroused him. He never thought a human could make him feel this good.

Shepard felt Garrus grab her hips and she slid down to position herself for him. She picked herself up and let Garrus guide her down slowly onto him. She let out a soft moan as he entered her. Garrus guided her hips slowly back and forth as she leaned forward and place her lips on Garrus. As her movements started to increase in speed she grabbed Garrus's hands and placed them on her breasts.

Garrus squeezed her breasts and pinched her nipples as she rocked herself violently back and forth. The speed of her breath increased and her moaning got louder. Using the strength in his lower legs, Garrus lifted his bottom and rocked his hips back and forth matching the speed in which Shepard was moving her hips. Garrus's own moans increased and his muscles tensed. He felt Shepard tighten around him and felt her curled toes press against his feet. Garrus threw his arms to his side and clenched the bed sheets as they both reached euphoric release, a loud moan escaping each of their lips.

Shepard collapsed on Garrus as he dropped his own hips on the bed. They lay there catching their breath. Garrus ran his hands through her hair as she traced the outline of his jaw.

"I love you so much Shepard." Garrus placed a small hiss on her forehead.

"Not as much as I love you Garrus." Shepard lay her head on his chest and quietly fell asleep once again.

10101010

Shepard and Garrus walked into the comm room hand in hand. Miranda was leaning on the table, her hands crossed around her chest and a frustrated look on her face.

"Took you long enough." She stood up and walked towards the panel on the table to activate the Illusive Man's call. Shepard stepped towards the middle of the room as the holo of the Illusive Man appeared.

"Shepard thank you for letting me…"

"Whatever it is you have to say to me I'm not interested. I don't work with Cerberus anymore." Shepard interrupted the Illusive Man and crossed her arms across her chest. "You've done enough damage and I'm not risking my crew for you anymore." The Illusive Man simply stood and paced, taking a drag of cigarette.

"Shepard, I'm in the uncomfortable position of asking for your help."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

A/N: I have a tendency to go into too much conversation. Sorry. Also, I used some Stargate and Halo stuff so you might recognize some things here and on previous and future chapters. On a disclaimer, I don't any of that either. I just like to make the characters do stuff I want to see. XD

Shepard looked up at the Illusive Man and chuckled. She couldn't believe what the Illusive Man had just told her. How could he even consider asking her for help after all Cerberus had done? Thoughts of Akuze flooded her mind. She remembered Kahoku's body lying on the floor and the expression on Corporal Toombs face as he pointed the gun in the scientists face. Only know she wishes she would have let him pull the trigger.

"What makes you think I'm even going to consider helping you?" Shepard's frustration was beginning to show in her voice.

"Shepard, I need your help for one more mission. If it goes well it could mean the imminent destruction of the Reapers. We both know that defeating the Reapers is our top priority. It's bigger than any conflict between you and Cerberus, bigger than humanity itself."

As Shepard listened to the Illusive Man speak about the importance of the mission, Miranda opened some files on the screen. A decade ago, a Cerberus agent had come across a Prothean artifact that suggested that a weapon to defeat the Reapers had been built. The artifact had led the agent to an underground facility on Ilos. Miranda continued to explain that the surviving Protheans, along with altering the signal to the keepers on the Citadel, had built a series of weapons that could effectively and permanently destroy a Reaper. The problem was that they needed a set of keys to activate the locator beacon and bring the weapons online.

"How come Saren didn't find this information when he was on Ilos?" Shepard started to pace around as Miranda brought up more files.

"The Cerberus agent managed to retrieve the files and wiped out the local data. By the time Saren had reached Ilos, the files were long gone. This past decade Cerberus has been decrypting the data and has found the location of the keys. Cerberus is currently in possession of two of the keys along with the location of the third and final key." Miranda walked towards the center of the room and turned her gaze to the Illusive Man.

"If you have the location why not just send your Cerberus agents to retrieve it?" Shepard placed her hand on her hip as the Illusive Man took another drag of his cigarette.

"This is what we need you for Shepard. The last key is located on Earth, however, the facility, along with the key, were destroyed during the First Contact War." Shepard stared blankly at the holo of the Illusive Man.

"So, what? You want me to go down there and glue the pieces together?" Garrus chuckled at the comment and pictured Shepard leaning over a table with a bottle of glue trying to sort out dozens of tiny pieces. Miranda rolled her eyes at Shepard as the Illusive Man walked back to his chair taking another drag of his cigarette.

"For the past couple of years Cerberus' scientists have been working on a way to retrieve the key before it is destroyed. The Prothean technology found on Ilos helped a great deal in the process." The Illusive Man said with a hint of pride in his voice.

"Why doesn't the Alliance know of this technology? And what do you mean by retrieving the key before it is destroyed?" Shepard arched her eyebrows as she processed the information she was getting. The Illusive Man told Shepard that they did not inform the Alliance of this technology because of their protocols and regulations. If they had made their discovery know they would not have been able to use it in a conducive manner. None of the advancements Cerberus had achieved would have been possible, including the Lazarus Project. He continued to explain something that made Shepard stare at him before bursting out in a fit laughter.

"Wait, wait… You expect me to believe that Cerberus came up with a way to go back in time?" Shepard waved her hands in front of her face as she let her laughter subside. Miranda walked up to her and stared her in the face.

"Commander, two years ago if someone told you that Cerberus could bring someone back to life would you have believed it?" Miranda had a serious look on her face.

"Probably not." Shepard hung her head as she responded.

"Yet here you are. You have no reason to doubt what Cerberus can accomplish." Shepard stood quiet as she realized that Miranda was right. If Cerberus could bring her back to life, who was she to doubt that they could had managed to rip a hole in the space time continuum and travel back in time? With hesitation she agreed to listen to the mission plans.

1010101010

Shepard lay next to Garrus. She couldn't stop thinking about the load of information she had just received. Cerberus had once again managed to entangle her into their dirty little fingers. But this was for the sake of the universe. If she could manage to do this mission then they stood a chance against the reapers. The Illusive Man had informed her that she would only be able to bring two of her human crewmembers due to the risk of being exposed. Before the First Contact War, humans had not been exposed to aliens yet and they could not afford to alter anything in any way. Shepard didn't like the idea of heading out into a mission without Garrus or Tali, but the Illusive Man was right. Besides, Garrus was leaving that same week to Spectre training. The council had been impressed by his actions during his time as the Archangel. As for Tali, she had returned to the flotilla to attend to some political issues caused by her father's actions.

Garrus sensed Shepard tossing and turning next to him. He was worried about the dangers that this mission presented. It was nothing like what they had done before. She had told him the previous day that she would be taking Miranda and Jacob due to the risk of being exposed. She said she didn't want him to worry and that she would be back before he even lifted a rifle as an official Spectre. He turned on his side and placed his arm around her shoulders. She jolted as his touch broke her of her thoughts.

"You okay Shepard?" Garrus pulled her closer.

"Oh, Garrus… I'm sorry if I woke you. It's just… I've been thinking about all this. It really bothers me that I have to work with Cerberus again. After all they've done. I thought I was done with them." She shifted her body and turned to face him, wrapping her arms around him.

"You feel so warm Garrus. In all of this darkness you are the light that guides me back home. The only one I trust. Thank you for always being there for me. I love you so much." She buried her face in his neck as Garrus held her tighter.

"I'll always be here for you Shepard… always and forever. You are my whole reason for being. I love you." He placed his chin on her head and they slowly drifted into dreams.

1010101

Shepard stood in the garage inspecting her armor, a list of things going through her mind before she headed out. She rode a shuttle to earth were Cerberus had prepared a facility specifically for this mission. Upon arrival, they were greeted by 3 armed Cerberus agents who guided them down a vast warehouse and past a few dozen piled up crates. Shepard's eyes grew wide as she placed her gaze in front of her, a short ramp lead to a platform that held a rounded, 20 ft tall, metal construct. A group of Cerberus scientists were scattered around checking stats and calibrating controls.

Miranda and Jacob were standing in front of a table sorting through weapons. They grabbed a few pistols and equipped the comm system Cerberus had provided. They had managed to alter the frequencies to allow them to communicate with each other even though they were in different times. Shepard walked towards them as one of the Cerberus agents intercepted her.

"Commander, everything is ready for you. Please proceed and check your weapons. A supply crate has been readied for you and has been loaded onto your shuttle." The agent saluted and stepped out of Shepard's way. She proceeded to were Miranda and Jacob were waiting. She looked over the table and picked out a sniper rifle and a pistol. She figured she wouldn't need much more. Miranda explained to her that they would be going through the gate as soon as the all clear was given.

Shepard stood in front of the round, metal construct as the Cerberus scientists typed something into the panel next to it. In a moment a flash of blue overwhelmed her and she saw as the center of the construct was filled with a curtain of blue light. It almost looked like a wall made out of water.

"We're all clear Commander." Miranda motioned for Shepard to follow her to the shuttle. "Once we go through, we will be arriving at this exact location in the year 2157. Two weeks before the 314 relay incident. It will be night time so please prepare the night vision on your helmet. We need to avoid as much attention as possible."

Shepard readied herself as the shuttle lifted and started moving forward. A pang of nervousness suddenly hit her. She started to imagine horrible things happening to her as they crossed the gate. Her stomach began to get upset when Miranda placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Shepard don't worry. Your insides won't come out your nose. Cerberus has tested this process extensively." Shepard let out an amused chuckle as she imagined her stomach oozing out of her nose. She shivered and let the image disappear as she was engulfed in blue light. During the shuttle ride to their location Miranda mentioned that Cerberus had been testing the portal for weeks, sending their agents to secure the location and build a facility to house the portal on that side.

The shuttle silently arrived at the key's known location. According to the data, the key had been dug up by the local military and was being held at an underground facility. Their job was to infiltrate the facility with as little casualties as possible and return with the key to the Cerberus facility. From there they would go back through the portal and go back to their own time. The team stepped out of the shuttle and scouted the area to make sure it was secure. The facility did not seem to be heavily guarded. Shepard activated her camouflage and ran behind the guards at the front gate knocking them down. Miranda and Jacob followed as Shepard cleared the way. As they entered the building, Shepard was surprised to see that the halls were surprisingly empty. As the team made their way through a maze of halls, a burst of red temporarily blinded her. The alarms had been triggered. Shepard felt that something was wrong. What could've triggered them? They had been very careful. As soon as they turned the next corner the battle began.

10101010101010

Shepard was lying on the floor as the coldness of the ground suddenly woke her. As her vision cleared she instinctively reached for her pistol. It was gone. She jumped to her feet and noticed she was in a white room with excruciatingly bright lights. She lifted her arm towards her face in an effort to block out the light. She inspected the room and turned her attention to the single, metal door in front of her.

_Great. I'm locked in. I knew I couldn't trust her. Fuck!_

Shepard began to angrily pace around the small room, ranting curses and punching the walls. At least she still had her armor on. As she backed into the wall to lean she heard the hiss of the door. She turned her gaze at the door and she saw none other than Miranda. She tossed a pistol at Shepard and half turned towards the door before Shepard pressed the same gun she had just given her on her left cheek. Shepard pinned Miranda against the wall, the barrel of the pistol leaving a red mark on her flawless face.

"You mother fucking bitch! I'm going to blow your fucking head off! I knew I shouldn't have trusted you. You and Cerberus had all this planned out didn't you?" Shepard placed her index finger on the trigger.

"Shepard please! I didn't betray you! Please, put the gun down. We have to get out of here now! I'll explain on the way. I already freed Jacob and he's waiting for us." Miranda began to sweat as Shepard pressed the pistol harder on her face.

"Give me one good reason I should trust you?" Miranda could feel her feet lifting off the ground. Shepard was about to pull the trigger when she felt a strong tug on her arm forcing the gun away from Miranda's face. She turned only to see Jacob holding her arm.

"Shepard we don't have time for this. The Illusive Man betrayed all of us. She saved our asses by knocking us out. The Illusive Man wanted us dead right then and there. She'll explain everything later. Now we have to get out of here. This place is gonna blow!" Jacob released her arm as Shepard loosened her grip on Miranda. She glared at Miranda and could see the fear in her eyes slowly dissipate. She turned to face Jacob as he pointed towards the end of the hall. Miranda followed as she slowly rubbed the side of her face the pistol had bruised.

They made their way past a series of small explosions. They had been encountered with very little resistance as they reached the main warehouse. As they hurried past crates Miranda explained to her what the Illusive Man had done. She said that she knew that he was planning on killing Shepard once she had recovered the key feeling it no longer necessary to keep her alive. He believed he could simply activate the weapons himself. Miranda had only agreed to follow his plans in order to keep him from succeeding. They had finally reached the shuttle when they started to feel the ground shake violently. The shuttle door flung open and the three of them jumped inside.

"Jack?" Shepard was surprised to see that it was her at the shuttle controls. "What are you doing here?" Miranda turned her gaze at Shepard.

"I'll explain later. Jack did you activate the portal?" She turned her attention to the biotic in the front seat.

"It should be. I had a hard time figuring out what the fuck I was doing. Some retard scientist was messing with the things controls before I got there." Jack lifted the shuttle and the portal suddenly activated. They felt the explosion reaching them and barely missing them as they passed thru the portal.

1-1-1-1-1-1

The sky was still dark when Jack violently landed the Shuttle. The other passengers jerked and Shepard fell off her seat as the shuttle hit the ground.

"What the fuck Jack?" Shepard picked herself up and rubbed the back of her neck.

"What do you mean what the fuck Jack? This is the first time I ever drive one of these fucking things. Get off my ass." Jack turned and flipped her off as she made her way towards the rest of them. The shuttle door opened and one by one they stepped out. Shepard was activating her night vision as she heard Miranda walk past her. She scanned her surroundings, pistol readied in her hands. Trees. Lots and lots of trees. She turned her gaze towards the shuttle and noticed they had barely landed on a clear patch of grass. Shepard turned to look at the rest of her crew.

"Where are we?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

A/N: Hopefully you guys are keeping up with me. I'm trying to update as soon as I can but I often come with a curse of writers block and I write randomly sometimes not making any sense. Sorry. This chapter might seem like it has inconsistencies with the facts but they are done on purpose. It will make soon in later chapters. Anyways, enjoy. XD

Jack was hiding behind some crates on the far end of the warehouse. She was to remain unseen unless Miranda needed her. Earlier that week Miranda had come up to her and asked for her help. Of course she blew her off at first but Miranda offered her something she couldn't refuse; the chance to stick her foot up the Illusive Man's holographic ass. Miranda had told her how the Illusive Man planned on 'terminating' Shepard's service after the mission and she needed her to be the element of surprise in case anything went wrong. Jack had snuck herself into the shuttle's cargo hold and snuck back out as soon as they had gone thru the portal.

Jack was fidgeting with her pistol. It had been well over an hour since Shepard had left and she was starting to get annoyed. She was about to put away her pistol when a crackling noise caught her attention. She peaked over the crates and noticed a surge of blue light appear in the center of the portal. It had been turned off minutes after Shepard and her team had crossed so Jack was wondering what it was. She looked around to check if anyone was around and walked towards the center. As she was about to touch it she heard Miranda's voice over her earpiece. Jack turned around and sprinted towards the location Miranda had indicated. As she was running down the halls she took down several soldiers and stopped short of the entrance when she once again heard Miranda's voice. It sounded hoarse and forced.

"You won't… get away… with this… You can't just… kill her…" Her voice sounded harsher and deeper as she spoke. Jack peeked in and saw a man with a Cerberus uniform holding Miranda against the wall with his hand around her neck and four more standing around him. Jack was about to burst in when she saw the holo of the Illusive Man towards the other end of the wall.

"Miranda, Miranda. I'm disappointed in you. I knew you wouldn't be able to handle this. Somehow I always expected you to betray me. After all I've done for you. Please dispose of her for me, gentlemen." The holo disappeared and the Cerberus agent raised his gun towards her head. As he pressed it against her face, a wave of crackling blue light suddenly threw him violently towards the wall. Miranda dropped to her knees gasping for air. As she regained her footing she looked around and saw the men on the floor, smoke rising from their dead bodies. She looked up and weakly smiled at Jack.

"Was that 'element of surprise' enough for you?" Jack leaned against the frame of the door crossing her arms at her chest and a smug look on her face.

"You're late…" Miranda was still breathing heavily as she walked past her and out of the room. "The Illusive Man knew what I was planning and had explosives planted around the building as a failsafe. We need to get Shepard and Jacob out of here. I'll go get them and you prepare the shuttle." Miranda reloaded her pistol and sprinted away.

"You're welcome by the way!... Bitch…." Jack yelled out behind her and turned towards the direction of the warehouse. As she arrived she took notice of a man in a lab coat punching information into the portal's control panel. She quietly snuck behind him and heard him muttering something about dangerous fluctuations of energy. As she approached him she placed her hands on his head and snapped his neck. As he was falling she turned to the portal and noticed that blue ball of energy was still in the middle. Not knowing what it was she ignored it and activated the portal according to the datapad Miranda had provided her. The ground started to shake under her. She ran towards the shuttle and hopped in as she heard Shepard and her team approaching.

1-1-1-1-1-1-1

Shepard was walking around the shuttle. The light in her helmet was providing very limited lighting and she kept stumbling. Miranda was trying to open up a communications channel on her earpiece but she couldn't manage to pick up any sort of signal. Jacob and Jack were looking thru the shuttle to see if they could find anything that could provide them with more light. Shepard strapped her sniper rifle to her back and secured her pistol at her hip as she stepped into the shuttle.

"I'm going to go down. We need to verify our location and see if there's any way to establish communication with the Normandy." Jacob grabbed his pistol and told Shepard that he'd be going with her. "I don't think it's a good idea to leave Jack and Miranda together. I don't want to come back and find that our only source of transportation has been blown up." Jacob smirked and nodded. She handed Miranda a pistol and motioned for her to follow. Using the light from their Omni-tools they carefully started to make their way down.

Shepard heard the rustling of leaves off to her right. She came to a dead stop and unholstered her pistol from her hip. She stretched out her other arm to motion Miranda to stop.

"What is it?" Miranda looked around and reached for her weapon.

"Someone's following us." Shepard's eyes darted in every direction straining her vision with the darkness. The sound of footsteps got closer and Shepard lifted her weapon. She heard Miranda grunt and hit the floor with a thud. Shepard's eyes adjusted in her direction and was suddenly blinded by a flash of blue light.

Shepard hit something behind her with a thud and threw her arms in front of her to catch her balance. The flash of blue light had thrown her back against a tree. She scanned the area for the source of the attack but found herself unable to focus.

"Show yourself!" Shepard turned on the lights on her helmet in hopes it would help her vision. She made her way towards the unconscious woman on the floor turning her body in every direction as she moved. Not lowering her weapon she reached down and shook Miranda. Slowly the woman opened her eyes and lifted herself off the ground.

"Are you okay?" Miranda nodded as she gripped her pistol and turned around so she and Shepard were back to back. "That was a biotic power. Keep your eyes open and ready your shields." Miranda's shields flickered and they slowly encircled each other. Another flash of biotic power rushed at them but they managed to dodge out of the way. Shepard stumbled on something on the ground and her N7 helmet flew of her head as her barrier kicked in.

"What? Human's shouldn't have biotics…" They heard a female voice coming from behind a barrier of trees. Shepard activated her camouflage and dashed towards their attacker. With her full body weight Shepard slammed the attacker to the ground and placed her pistol to her head. "Wait!" The woman pleaded as she raised her hands up to her face.

"Who are you? Why did you attack us?" Shepard straddled the woman and pressed her forearm against the female's neck pressing the pistol hard against the side of her face. Miranda ran next to her and aimed her weapon at the pinned woman. With what little light their Omni-tools provided Shepard was able to take a look at their attackers face. It was an Asari. The woman's eyes were wide as she stared up at Shepard.

"How is it possible? Human's don't have biotics…" Shepard could barely hear the Asari's question through her choking voice.

"What do you mean humans don't have biotics? Who are you?" Shepard loosened her grip a little to allow the Asari to respond.

"I've been on this planet for over 80 years and I've never seen a human use biotics." Shepard looked at the Asari in confusion and then looked back at Miranda. The same confused expression was on her face. Shepard ordered Miranda to restrain the Asari. They helped her to her feet and hauled her back to the shuttle at gun point.

1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1

"It's what? Oh my god… I can't believe this…" Shepard was shocked at what she had just discovered. Upon arriving back to the shuttle they began to question their prisoner. She had been stuck on Earth for over 80 years trying to find a way to go back to her home world. She and another Asari had been sent out to observe the inhabitants of this planet. She mentioned that their government had discovered their ship and had seized it and taken it into some underground facility. When they tried to infiltrate the facility to recover it her partner was captured as she sent out a rescue beacon. She explained to Shepard that when she saw their shuttle land she thought that their distress signal had been picked up. Her surprise to her reaction towards her biotics became clear when the Asari mentioned the date. The year was 2025. Humans had not discovered space flight or biotics yet.

"We landed here on Earth date July 2, 1945 in someplace called Roswell. In the many years that I've been hiding here I've never even thought it possible for humans to have the capacity for biotics… But I answered your questions. Now you tell me who you are." Shepard couldn't move. Her mind was having a hard time processing what she had just learned. Jacob, Jack and Miranda just stared at her with dropped jaws. Jack was the first to break the silence.

"Holy fucking shit! I knew Cerberus was gonna fuck us!" Jack started to pace furiously as her hands crackled with biotic power.

"How do you know it was something Cerberus did? You were the one responsible for activating the portal! You must have done something wrong and now were stuck here!" Miranda threw her hands in the air as Jacob silently paced around.

"What the fuck did you say cheerleader? You're fucking blaming me?" Jack punched the side of the shuttle leaving a dent as her fist impacted with the metal.

"Everybody just calm down! We need to figure out what we're going to do. We need to find a way to fix this." Jacob stumbled as Jack shoved him backwards towards the shuttle.

"And how are we supposed to fix this you fucking Cerberus lap dog?" Jack's fists were still crackling with biotic power. Shepard grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back.

"Stand down Jack! That's an order. Until we figure how this happened we need to stay calm. I can't have you risking our safety. You heard the Asari. If she was able to spot us I don't doubt someone else might have. We need to get out of here before anyone else finds us. Now everybody start gathering the equipment and get ready to move out." Jack glared at her and pushed past Miranda towards the shadows of the trees. "I gave you an order Jack!"

"Fuck this. I need to take a piss…" She disappeared behind the trees but Shepard could still hear her moving around. The Asari looked up at Shepard from where she was sitting. Her gaze moved from person to person and eventually back to her.

"Who exactly are you people?" Shepard ran her fingers through her dark hair and holstered the weapon she realized she was still holding. She turned to Miranda and asked her to untie the Asari. She complained but was immediately silenced by the deadly glare Shepard sent her way.

"My name is Commander Jane Shepard. We came to Earth in search of a Prothean artifact and somehow the portal we used to get to it sent us back here. It might be a little difficult to believe but were not from this time." As Shepard explained some of the details to the Asari, the sun began to rise along the horizon.

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Shepard leaned against the dirt wall of the cave they had taken refuge in. They had no choice but to leave the shuttle behind. They brought whatever equipment they could carry and left the area as soon as the sun completely rose. Shepard still couldn't believe it. How could this have happened? Something must have gone wrong with the portal. She wondered if one of the explosions had damaged the portal in any way causing it to malfunction. Shepard looked across the cave at the Asari who was trying to light a fire.

"This is bullshit Shepard. How the _fuck_ are we supposed to get out of here?" Jack was squatting against the wall banging her head on it. "I'm fucking starving!" Miranda and Jacob were pacing next to each other discussing possible ways the portal could have malfunction. Jack turned to look at them and stood up. "Before I activated the portal there was some guy rambling about dangerous fluctuations of some shit and then there was this blue ball of electricity in the middle…" Shepard was surprised to see Jack trying to contribute. She figured that it must be the hunger making her cooperate.

"That's it then." Miranda turned to face Jacob. "There must have been an electrical surge that messed with the calibrations and with the added energy of the explosions it malfunctioned."

"Great. Now we're stuck here without the technology to get back." Shepard hadn't heard Jacob being so negative before. Her own stomach started to grumble and she slid herself to the floor. She began to think about Garrus and how there was a possibility that she might never see him again. Tears began to well in her eyes when Miranda approached her.

"We need to find a way to get supplies. If we're going to get out of here we need to make sure we don't die of hunger." The Asari stood up and walked out of the cave. Shepard followed and stopped next to her as she gazed down the tree covered mountain towards the horizon. She could see the tops of buildings along the tree lines.

"You should be able to resupply in the city. It should be easy for you to remain unnoticed. You're human after all. I've had to survive off small animals that inhabit this place but if you manage to bring something I don't have to skin I'd be really happy. My name is Nyra by the way." Shepard gave her a tiny smile and nodded. She might be human but she really didn't think she would be able to blend in. Humans in this time didn't normally walk around wearing armor or weapons strapped to their backs.

Shepard snuck around the back of the large vehicle and peered through the window. Nobody was inside. Nyra had pointed them to a small area of woods were she had often seen humans make camp. She advised Shepard that they could probably pick up some items of clothing to facilitate their travel to the city. Slowly she opened the door and entered. It was like a tiny apartment. Miranda stood outside keeping watch as Shepard rummaged through the compartments. She grabbed as many items as she could and exited. They made their way back up to the cave and sorted through the items.

"No, Jack. You need to change into it. You can't walk around shirtless! It's inappropriate and we can't call any attention to ourselves." Miranda was holding out a shirt for Jack who was leaning cross armed against the dirt wall.

"Fuck! Whatever!" Jack snatched the flowery garment and heard Miranda snicker as she threw it on. "Fuck you cheerleader!" Her face turned red and she stormed out of the cave. Shepard didn't really want to take Jack along but she couldn't trust leaving her behind. She didn't want Jack to destroy anything while she was away. Shepard was standing there in her underwear trying to unbutton the shirt she was holding. Jacob glanced at her and blushed as he threw on some jeans that were a little too large for him. As they finished she ordered Miranda to stay with Nyra and keep an eye out for any movement towards the shuttle. If anything happened she was to contact her immediately. Luckily they had managed to get their local comms to work.

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Shepard could feel the glances she was getting as she walked down the crowded sidewalk. Luckily, after 2 hours of walking someone had offered them a ride. Reluctant to take the offer Jacob managed to convince her. Shepard was glad they had been able to avoid any long conversations with the stranger and surprisingly Jack had stayed quiet.

_Now I know to starve her when I want her to behave._

Shepard was nervous that Jack would cause an incident if someone stared at her too long. Her mind was trying to remember all the things she had learned in history when she was still in school. Nothing she managed to remember even remotely helped her. They scanned the area and located some shops. Shepard's mouth watered as she smelled the aroma coming from a nearby restaurant. She was faced with another issue. They had absolutely no currency. She palmed her forehead. How could she have forgotten about that? She turned towards Jacob who was looking in every direction.

"Did you see were Jack went? She fell behind a couple minutes ago and I don't know where she went." Shepard looked around and felt her face flush in anger. She had specifically told her not to wander off. She started walking back when she heard screaming off to the distance. She turned and saw a small group of people running out of a building. She started walking in the direction of the building but froze in her tracks when she heard a loud boom followed by the crackling flash of blue light.

"Oh fuck me! "

A/N: Thanks for reading so far. Sorry it took long to update. As you can see, I wrote 4 more fics before getting this chapter started. For some reason I have a tendency to throw myself head first into more than one project. I'll try and update faster. I want to put some sort of comedy in this. They are stuck in a place that is unfamiliar and they are bound to get into some trouble. If you have any suggestions please feel free to throw them at me. But don't aim at my face tho… Your reviews are like crack to me. Please feed my addiction. XD


	4. Chapter 4

"**Lost In Time"**

Chapter 4

A/N: I apologize for the delay in the update. I got obsessed with playing Lair of the Shadow Broker and Halo: Reach and I've been like a Zombie. I kinda sorta forgot where I was going with this fic but I'll try to live up to expectations. I currently don't have a beta so I apologize for any discrepancies in my grammar and any discrepancies in the story line. I'm not a big fan of the Codex. Also thanks to all of you who have reviewed, faved and placed this story on alert. Special thanks to **FallingDarkAngel**

for motivating me to continue. You're the best!

**Disclaimer: Bioware owns Mass Effect and all it's characters. I just play in their sandbox and occasionally make holes in it.**

Shepard ran towards the crowd. By now her blood was boiling in anger. She was sure that the reason for the disturbance was none other than the psychotic biotic. As she ran inside the damaged building she noticed Jack was nowhere in site.

"Jack! Where the fuck are you?" Shepard began walk towards the back of the building when she heard the biotics voice over the comm.

"Jesus, Shepard! You don't have to yell. I lost site of you guys. I'm a few blocks away. Where are you?"

Shepard was dumbfounded. If Jack didn't cause this then what did? As Shepard made her way outside the building she heard the familiar sound of sirens.

_SHIT!_

She sprinted towards the door but froze when she saw half a dozen men pointing guns at her.

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Miranda was pinned on the ground struggling against her attacker for air. She charged her biotics and released a warp against the Asari's body. As her attacker flew towards the wall Miranda jumped to her feet and charged at her.

"I knew you were lying!" Miranda threw another warp towards her but the Asari ducked out of the way.

"Cerberus trains it's lackeys well I see." Nyra wiped the trickling blood off her lips as she ducked once again.

"You knew all along who we were when we landed. I have to say you are a very good liar. But I'm better." Miranda took her fighting stance as the Asari regained her balance.

"I will destroy Cerberus at all costs! It's their fault our world is destroyed! You and that damned human will pay for all the suffering you've caused!" The Asari charged forwards once again but Miranda ducked and Nyra crashed into the wall. Taking advantage of the dazed alien, Miranda grabbed her arms and pulled them behind her back restraining her. The Asari yelled out in pain and finally dropped to her knees.

"I told you I have no idea what you're talking about! I don't work for Cerberus anymore. The only reason I'm here is to help the Commander with the Reapers!" Miranda guided her prisoner towards the back of the cave and restrained the Asari's hands with some rope that she found earlier at the camp.

"Now, tell me what is really going on. If you're here then the Illusive Man must have done something really terrible. I know you don't trust me but if it's that bad I want to help." Nyra let herself slide to the floor and leaned her head on her knees.

"So many dead... And all because of Cerberus. If it wasn't for Shepard, Illium wouldn't have been destroyed..."

Miranda was confused. As far as she knew the planet was fine. She had just been on Nos Astra a few weeks ago. Perhaps something happened when they left? She sat down next to Nyra and leaned herself against the wall.

"Tell me what happened."

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Shepard was sitting in a cold, metallic room. The man across from her intently staring at her and it was beginning to annoy her. A few minutes ago she had been taken into custody for the events at the department store. She had been the only one left inside and she couldn't fight back for fear of blowing cover. She had discreetly told her companions over her comm to not interfere. She advised them to resupply and get back to Miranda as quickly as they could. She would leave her comm open so that they could track her at all times. Finally the man began to speak.

"So tell me, what were you doing in there and how did you cause that explosion?" Shepard was amused now. The short, bald man was trying to play the 'good cop' role. She was just waiting for someone to burst into the room and take the 'bad cop' role. Shepard crossed her arms and leaned back against her chair.

"My name is Commander Jane Shepard and that's all I'm allowed to tell you." The volus looking cop stared at her and smirked.

"Commander? Really? From what branch of the military? No offense but you seem a little to young to be a 'Commander' ma'am."

"I told you I'm not allowed to tell you anything more."

"OK. Say I believe you. Why did you blow up that building then?" Shepard shifted in her seat and leaned forward.

"I didn't do it. I saw the blast an ran towards the building to see if anyone was hurt." Just as Shepard predicted another taller man burst in and slammed the palm of his hand on the cold, metal table.

"Stop lying and tell us what you were doing there!" The man reminded her of Udina. She chuckled and it made the man angry.

"You think this is funny? People could've gotten hurt! Not to mention we can't identify the explosives you used." The man's face turned a brighter red when Shepard shook her head and dismissed him. He really sucked at this 'bad cop' thing. Even Thane did a better job when they were interviewing Kelham. After a while of the Commander's silence they gave up and took her to a small holding cell.

_Finally!_

Shepard sighed and took a seat on the concrete slab against the wall. Making sure no one was around she activated her omni tool to contact her team mates.

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Miranda couldn't believe what she was hearing. How could the Illusive Man let millions of people die like that? Nyra had finally broken down and told her everything. The Illusive Man had finally gone power mad. Nyra explained that Shepard had been declared dead once again and that the Reapers had finally attacked. No one knew how Cerberus obtained the weapon that destroyed them but for the past 5 years humanity had taken dominance. The Illusive Man had declared himself leader and anyone that opposed him was exterminated. Illium had fallen when a group of Asari commandos gathered allies and declared war on Cerberus.

Destroying home worlds was how he maintained control. The Krogan had assumed a role in his power play as 'enforcers' when they were offered a restricted cure to the genophage. Millions had already died and humanity was taking advantage. The council was assassinated and the galaxy fell into a dictatorship. With home worlds destroyed and governments decimated the colonies fell into anarchy and soon had no choice but to succumb to human dominance.

Miranda was still confused. If all this was happening how was Nyra able to come back this far to stop Cerberus if everyone was monitored?

"Archangel." Nyra stood up and leaned against the dirt wall.

"He was able to remain unnoticed and with help from the Shadow Broker he obtained schematics for the portal. Along with a Quarian and a few other members we recreated the technology used to send you back. But somehow it malfunctioned and it threw us back more than a century. All he wanted to do was find your commander and bring her back. I don't know why he was so obsessed. He said that if we found her we would be able to fight Cerberus."

"Then why lie to us in the beginning. If you were sent to find Commander Shepard why not just tell us?" Miranda walked up to the Asari and motioned for her to turn so she could undo her restraints.

"Because it's her fault we're in this mess. If she hadn't been working for Cerberus to begin with none of this would have happened."

"There was no way of knowing that this would have happened. I can assure you that if Shepard knew what the Illusive Man was planning she would have never allowed it to happen."

"That may be so. But I still can't forgive her." Miranda was processing everything she heard when the name finally clicked.

"Wait, did you say Archangel?"

"Yes. He's a Turian. No one really knows who he is but he became the biggest opposition to Cerberus. He has a lot of followers and is the only one who has been able to oppose them effectively."

_Garrus!_

Miranda chose not to pursue the matter of Archangel until she knew more. If Shepard found out there was no telling how she would react. For now she decided not to mention anything.

Jacob ran into the cave with Jack following close behind.

"Miranda we have a problem. The Commander has been captured."

A/N: I apologize for the shortness of this chapter but I don't want to overload myself upon the risk of going into another fit of writer's block. Oh and one of my brothers broke my laptop. No one wants to take responsibility for it so now I have to come to my friends house to write. As I said, I have no beta and my grammar and structure might be a little (or a lot) off. Please feel free to correct me and make suggestions. Please review as reviews are what keeps me motivated to continue with this fic.


	5. Chapter 5

**"Lost in Time"**

Chapter 5

A/N: I'm so sorry guys! I completely forgot about this fic under the pile of other fics I have still unfinished. I've been working graveyards and I'm completely wiped out. I hope I didn't lose any of my readers due to the lack of updates. Anyways, please enjoy and review at the end.

Disclaimer: Same as always. All characters belong to BioWare. Characters I make along the way are just sticking their fingers in their sandbox.

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Jane Shepard was mad. Scratch that. To say she was mad was and understatement. Jane Shepard was furious. It had been three days since her detention and her squad had yet to come and bust her out. Shepard was a patient woman but there was only so much poking and prodding she could take. Over the course of these three days the same two officers would come into her cell and ask the same questions over and over. She was so close to simply incinerating the door and walking out.

_That's it! As soon as I'm out someone is losing a set of teeth!_

Shepard's attention was sidetracked to the narrow hallway just outside her cell. She neared the door to take a peek and froze the instant she saw who was coming. It was non other than Jacob Taylor. He walked up to her door and unlocked it letting the door fling open. Shepard couldn't hold her relief. She sighed loudly and punched Jacob in the arm.

"Jesus fucking Christ, Taylor! What in the world took you so long? Why are you dressed like that?" Shepard tugged at Jacobs shirt. He was sporting a camouflage shirt with matching pants which Shepard quickly recognized as a military uniform.

"We'll explain later, Commander. For now we should get out of here."

"You don't have to tell me twice. I've had enough of this place."

Shepard and Jacob made their way past a set of double doors and met up with Miranda who was waiting for them in the PD lobby. Shepard's smile widened when she saw her former XO dressed in a military officer's uniform. Now she was really curious. Miranda saluted the commander and Shepard quickly caught on.

"At ease. I assume everything is in order here and I am free to leave?"

The officer standing next to Miranda ran to the door and opened it.

"Ye.. Yes! We offer our sincere apologies ma'am. We had no idea who you were. Please, let us know if you ever need our assistance. We will gladly offer our aid."

"That won't be necessary but thank you. Now if you'll excuse me we'll be taking our leave."

The officer stepped out of the way and the commander and her crew walked out the doors.

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Shepard was walking around the tiny apartment. It was for the most part empty. She walked towards the middle of the living room where Miranda was working on a machine that looked like a computer hooked up to her Omni tool.

"So let me get this straight. You took three days to come get me because you were doing research?"

"Again, Commander, I apologize for the delay. We needed to come up with a non invasive way of removing you from custody. We could not afford to expose ourselves. I was able to gain access to a computer terminal and luck would have it that their security isn't as sophisticated as ours. I was able to download information from different government databases and was able to integrate our identities into their military database. Once I obtained said identification cards it was easy to acquire the apparel. We simply walked into the detention facility, showed our ID's and told the officers you were our commander and that we were on a secret military mission that they were about to ruin. We simply threatened to take them all into military custody for interference and they gave us the key to your cell."

Shepard was actually surprised. She knew Miranda was smart but she had never really known how useful and resourceful she could be. Not to mention she was able to adapt to this centuries technology rather quickly.

"Excellent job, Lawson. Not only did you get us access to government files you also secured a safe house. I never knew how useful you really were. I take back anything negative I have ever said about you. I guess Cerberus did train you well."

"Thank you, Commander. Although Cerberus doesn't have as much to do with my abilities as you might think. But enough about that. We still need to find a way to get to Nyra's partner. She remains captured and we need to retrieve her and the time travel device if we want to get out of here."

"You still haven't told me what they're doing here. There's no possible way that they were here on an exploration mission like she claimed. I might not be a genius but even I know they wouldn't have been able to get here without the Charon Relay and that hasn't even been discovered yet."

"Commander, there's something you need to know…"

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Shepard was sitting on the roof's edge of their building. She still couldn't believe what she heard. How was it possible that the Illusive Man had managed to destroy everything she had worked hard for? Was his ambition so great that he sacrificed innocent lives? A tear rolled down her cheek when she thought about Garrus. How was he? Was he even still alive? For her it had only been a few days since she hadn't seen him but for Garrus it had been years. She wanted to see him. She wanted to feel his warmth against her skin. To hear his breath next to her ear when they were asleep.

"Commander, are you ok?"

Jacob walked up to the commander and sat next to her.

"We'll find a way out of here. I promise."

"We will Taylor. And when we do I am going to hunt down the Illusive Man and I will take great pleasure in killing him. Slowly and very painfully. I'm going to make him feel every single innocent life he's taken if it's the last thing I do."

The commander's sadness was now replaced with rage. She lifted herself up and made her way inside the building.

"Do we have any plans yet? How is your investigation going, Miranda?"

The XO was still busy searching databases and building schematics.

"Unfortunately I have not been successful in finding any relevant information. It appears that the place were Nyra's partner is being held is a very well kept secret. The only way to truly investigate would be to infiltrate the building and do a live scan of the area."

The commander was pacing processing the information. She sat down next to Miranda and brought out her own Omni tool. Miranda transferred all the information she had been working with onto Shepard's Omni tool and they began formulating ideas.

A couple hours passed and only a handful of ideas had been deemed useful. The day had been other wise uneventful. Shepard stood and walked towards the window.

"I don't suppose you managed to secure currency for us did you?"

Miranda tossed a plastic card towards Shepard.

"Here. This is called a credit card. It's similar to a credit chit only the money is borrowed. I removed the limit it has so you should be able to make a substantial purchase if need be."

The XO turned her gaze at the commander and smirked. Her stomach had growled very loudly.

"I suppose we should venture out and purchase some sustenance. If we are to embark on a dangerous mission in an unknown place might as well do it on a full stomach."

Shepard called out to Jack who had locked herself in one of the rooms. She was being gloomier than usual. Miranda had said something about her being on Earth brought back memories of when she was out on the streets on her own. Stuff like that tends to mess with your head she said.

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The city streets were crowded with people even at night. Miranda had downloaded enough information about the area for them to walk around without getting lost. They made their way through a parking lot and into a series of buildings their information called a "mall." Shepard felt a little awkward walking around without her armor. Whenever she visited the Zakera Ward on the Citadel she always had it on. But here, it would be too suspicious for them to walk around in such manner. Luckily they still had the clothes they had stolen at the camp.

Shepard and her crew walked up to the counter of a restaurant. "First things first. We eat. I'm starving. Then we need to acquire some proper apparel. I don't like the looks we're getting and I'm afraid Jack will kill someone if they keep staring at her."

"Agreed." Miranda looked around and frowned. "All the food here is so high in calories and saturated fats."

"What did you expect? McDonald's hasn't changed. Even a century of causing heart attacks and obese children they haven't changed their menu." Shepard ordered food for her, Jack and Jacob who claimed they had never eaten at a McDonalds and moved out of the way for Miranda who opted on ordering a salad. She noted to pass by a grocery store and buy some proper food for later.

With their stomachs full they made their way across the mall and walked into a department store.

"We need to acquire proper clothing if we are to blend in. That means nothing extravagant. Jack that means you. You can't walk around exposing your chest. We can't afford to draw any attention to ourselves. Meet here in 30 minutes time. No longer. We need to get back and continue planning. Nyra will be waiting for us with any information she was able to gather about the base."

The crew split and Shepard started browsing the racks for something appropriate. She wished they had a good armor store. She always felt most comfortable when wearing the light, protective metal. All she could find were frilly shirts and pants so tight they could choke a quarian. Shepard was starting to become annoyed. Didn't anyone believe in comfort anymore? It was all about looks here. After minutes of browsing she finally walked up to a rack of jeans.

Luckily the sizing system hadn't changed and she picked up a pair of size 4 loose fitting jeans and grabbed a t shirt from a shelf next to it. She was on her way to the meeting spot when she remembered she didn't have any underwear. She quickly ran to the lingerie section and grabbed a pack of the nearest small underwear she could find. Thinking she was done she started walking and remembered something else. She needed a bra. She hated shopping for bra's because she never found the right size.

Shepard was running out of time and she didn't want to take any longer than she needed to. She grabbed a few pieces and tested them over her shirt. She was feeling the material when she heard someone cough behind her. She turned to see Jacob trying to keep himself from staring at her.

"Jacob, what do you think?" Shepard placed her hands on her hips and twisted side to side to let Jacob see the whole thing.

"Um… It looks nice. I, um, I'm done. I was just letting you know that I'll be waiting in the designated meeting area." Jacob's face was flushed. Shepard knew he had a crush on her and she enjoyed teasing him.

"I'll be there in a few. I'm done here. I just need to collect my things."

Shepard unhooked the bra and folded it back again. Placing it over her already chosen items she remembered she also needed shoes. She picked up her items and quickly ran to the shoe section of the store. Picking up a pair of black size 8 chucks she finally ran back to the meeting area.

Everyone but Miranda were there. Jack had picked up a couple of jeans and shirts and some black, biker looking boots. Jacob had apparently chosen to be a bit more classy and had some dress pants and dress shirts with him.

"Has anyone seen Miranda?" The commander looked around trying to spot her but failed.

"The Cheerleader was talking to some dude last I saw her. Maybe she's in the dressing rooms fucking him."

"Jack!"

"What? That's what I would do. I'm just saying."

As if on cue the XO walked up behind them. To Shepard's surprise she was empty handed.

"Aren't you getting anything for yourself, Miranda?"

"Of course, Commander. I acquired a few items but I'm having them delivered. Let's go pay and get out of here."

The crew walked up to the cashier and placed their items on the counter. Shepard laughed at the clerk. He was staring at Miranda so hard he could've burned a hole in her shirt. The boy scanned the last item and gave them their total.

"That'll be $12,763.58"

Shepard nearly choked.

"Excuse me?"

"Oh it's alright Comm… err.. Shepard. I told you I was getting some stuff delivered. The total is correct." Miranda handed the blushing boy the plastic card and smiled.

"What exactly did you get, Miranda?"

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A/N: So there's the next chapter. Not as action packed or interesting but they had to do some shopping. They really couldn't walk around in armor or mismatched clothing. And Jack sure as hell wasn't going to walk around in a flower patterned shirt. Reviews are welcome. Suggestions are too. I'm running out of juice.


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